Annie Liebovitz recommends iPhone as "snapshot camera of today"

When asked by friends what kind of camera they should buy, famed photographer Annie Liebovitz says she recommends the iPhone.

In an interview with NBC's "Rock Center" promoting her new book "Pilgrimage," Liebovitz flatly answered that the iPhone is the "snapshot camera of today," perhaps suggesting a link with popular cameras of the past used to capture everyday photos.

"I'm still learning how to use mine," Liebovitz said, pulling her iPhone 4 out to take a picture of her host. "It's great. It's a pencil, it's a pen, it's a notebook. I can't tell you how many times I see people show me their children. It's the wallet with the family pictures in it. It is so accessible and easy."

Liebovitz, named "a living legend" by the the Library of Congress for her work, has captured a wide range of iconic photographs, many for Rolling Stone, where she became its chief photographer in the early 1970s.

Among her most famous covers there depicted a nude John Lennon wrapped around Yoko Ono. For Vanity Fair, Liebovitz captured naked, pregnant Demi Moore. Those two photos have since been named the best two magazine covers over the past 40 years by the American Society of Magazine Editors.

What she is saying is the old adage, 'the best camera is the one you have with you'. The iPhone is an excellent choice, but this was not a discussion of which phone offers the best camera. It was about photography in general. The quality improvements in the last two years are allowing people who otherwise would never own a camera to finally capture reasonable images. If Apple wants to claim a product endorsement, that's ok, but I believe she was crediting a class of devices.

The iPhone's camera is fine in daylight, but sucks for indoors shots, even the cameras on the 4S. I constantly get blur, and the camera's AUTO feature never seems to engage the flash, unless it's very very dark.

What she is saying is the old adage, 'the best camera is the one you have with you'. The iPhone is an excellent choice, but this was not a discussion of which phone offers the best camera. It was about photography in general. The quality improvements in the last two years are allowing people who otherwise would never own a camera to finally capture reasonable images. If Apple wants to claim a product endorsement, that's ok, but I believe she was crediting a class of devices.

I guess it depends on one's opinion, but I would say the iphone has by far the best camera of any smart phone.

What she is saying is the old adage, 'the best camera is the one you have with you'. The iPhone is an excellent choice, but this was not a discussion of which phone offers the best camera. It was about photography in general. The quality improvements in the last two years are allowing people who otherwise would never own a camera to finally capture reasonable images. If Apple wants to claim a product endorsement, that's ok, but I believe she was crediting a class of devices.

And here I was thinking that having Annie Liebovitz come out and say this was finally going to get the camera-philes to shut up but you seem to be just using it as an excuse to push the same old tired agenda.

You are basically taking her statement and supposing through your own interpretation that she was in fact saying the exact opposite to what she meant to say.

The iPhone camera is not just a camera for people who "never owned a camera before" it's better by a substantial amount than the majority of point and shoots. In other words, as long as you aren't a camera snob or the photographic equivalent of an audiophile, it's actually one of the best cameras you could buy.

What she is saying is the old adage, 'the best camera is the one you have with you'. The iPhone is an excellent choice, but this was not a discussion of which phone offers the best camera. It was about photography in general. The quality improvements in the last two years are allowing people who otherwise would never own a camera to finally capture reasonable images. If Apple wants to claim a product endorsement, that's ok, but I believe she was crediting a class of devices.

And here I was thinking that having Annie Liebovitz come out and say this was finally going to get the camera-philes to shut up but you seem to be just using it as an excuse to push the same old tired agenda.

You are basically taking her statement and supposing through your own interpretation that she was in fact saying the exact opposite to what she meant to say.

The iPhone camera is not just a camera for people who "never owned a camera before" it's better by a substantial amount than the majority of point and shoots. In other words, as long as you aren't a camera snob or the photographic equivalent of an audiophile, it's actually one of the best cameras you could buy.

My iPhone 4 can't get decent color worth a damn in fluorescent light. The iPhone 4 Apple replaced due to an overheating battery had the exact same problem. I've not had this problem with any kind of camera before, P&S, cellphone or otherwise.

The iPhone's camera is fine in daylight, but sucks for indoors shots, even the cameras on the 4S. I constantly get blur, and the camera's AUTO feature never seems to engage the flash, unless it's very very dark.

Oh well.

That's not a bug, it's a smart feature. Anyone with any sensitivity to image creation generally will only use a flash as a last resort. Natural light and a steady hand are two components most lacking in run of the mill photos. Those two key factors would serve as excellent foundation stones as one works to become a good photographer.

My iPhone 4 can't get decent color worth a damn in fluorescent light. The iPhone 4 Apple replaced due to an overheating battery had the exact same problem. I've not had this problem with any kind of camera before, P&S, cellphone or otherwise.

And the lack of optical zoom can be very limiting.

Well, since an optical zoom is impossible in a thin phone, I think you'll have to forgive Apple.

Florescent light is horrible for any camera. Most cameras just attempt to adjust to the dominant light source, but this can screw colors up badly. I think Apple has decided to take a least radical approach and let you adjust the color temp as you prefer. A RAW format would make me happiest, but them it wouldn't really be a point and shoot. Apple should probably just have a mode that decides for the user, which would make you happy.

The iPhone camera is not just a camera for people who "never owned a camera before" it's better by a substantial amount than the majority of point and shoots. In other words, as long as you aren't a camera snob or the photographic equivalent of an audiophile, it's actually one of the best cameras you could buy.

I'd argue the points about it being "substantially better" or the "best camera", but I'd support your point by saying it's the only camera many people would need. Not because it's so much better than a point-and-shoot, but because most point-and-shoot cameras are more than most people either need or would know how to use to take advantage of the features they offer. (And you don't need be a camera snob to appreciate those features, you just need to read the manual that came with your camera, and most people don't.)

Well, since an optical zoom is impossible in a thin phone, I think you'll have to forgive Apple.

I know a zoom can't fit, but when one makes hyperbole like this:

"In other words, as long as you aren't a camera snob or the photographic equivalent of an audiophile, it's actually one of the best cameras you could buy."

The lack of a zoom really hurts such a statement, because it's not a photo snob feature and it can be really useful, and it's found on most P&S cameras, yielding far better results than the iPhone's digital zoom feature.

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Florescent light is horrible for any camera. Most cameras just attempt to adjust to the dominant light source, but this can screw colors up badly. I think Apple has decided to take a least radical approach and let you adjust the color temp as you prefer. A RAW format would make me happiest, but them it wouldn't really be a point and shoot. Apple should probably just have a mode that decides for the user, which would make you happy.

Where is the color temp adjustment? Not in the phone anywhere that I've seen. The crop function is nice to have now, but that and red eye and full auto is all I've found.

What she is saying is the old adage, 'the best camera is the one you have with you'. The iPhone is an excellent choice, but this was not a discussion of which phone offers the best camera. It was about photography in general... I believe she was crediting a class of devices.

Oh come on. If she had named, say, the Kodak Instamatic as the snapshot camera of its era, would you interpret this as referring to a whole class of devices?

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Originally Posted by k2director

The iPhone's camera is fine in daylight, but sucks for indoors shots, even the cameras on the 4S. I constantly get blur, and the camera's AUTO feature never seems to engage the flash, unless it's very very dark.

No real argument here, but you might like to check out the newish Jolly Rainbo 2X flash for Hipstamatic, especially with low-light-friendly "lenses" like Jimmy, Melodie, and (also newish) Lucas AB2. Make sure you switch the LED flash ON (by sliding the flash control all the way to the left). I have no idea how it works, but it actually takes pictures (most of the time: ymmv) without the horribly washed-out result you typically get with cell phone cameras

The "Clarity" filter on Camera+ can work wonders with seemingly underexposed images, as can the "FixDark" feature of PerfectlyClear.

With my less-than-steady hands, I get blurring too with low-light exposures. Many camera-replacement apps have anti-shake settings. I especially like the implementation of this feature in CameraSharp.

I suspect, in fact, that all the added possibilities provided by the hundreds of available photo apps might explain why Liebovitz says she's "still learning how to use mine." It probably also explains why the iPhone is by far the most popular camera (not just cell phone camera) on Flickr. With just a couple of apps -- say Camera+ and Photoforge 2 -- you've got a reasonably capable photo lab in your pocket.

I don't know enough to say whether or not the iPhone 4S camera is the best cell phone camera out there. Probably it's not. But it's the one people are really using, including, increasingly, serious photographers.

The iPhone's camera is fine in daylight, but sucks for indoors shots, even the cameras on the 4S. I constantly get blur, and the camera's AUTO feature never seems to engage the flash, unless it's very very dark.

Oh well.

But the same thing applies to most snap shooters and I would argue most cameras with a built in flash. My DSLR will perform better than an iPhone in adverse condition but indoor low light. conditions will always produce sketchy results. Like the iPhone my big Canon has lots of limitations - chief amongst those being size and weight. It spends most of the time on the shelf.